Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk, Connecticut | |
|---|---|
| Nickname: The Hat City | |
 Location in Fairfield County, Connecticut | |
| Counties | Fairfield County |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 82,951 |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (Eastern) |
| Website | www.norwalkct.org |
Norwalk is a city located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 82,951 making it the sixth largest city in Connecticut. The current mayor of Norwalk is Dick Moccia, a Republican.
The name “Norwalk” itself comes from the Algonquin word “noyank” meaning “point of land”, or its Native American name, “Naramauke” (or Norwauke, Norowake, or Norwaake), a Native American chief.
Norwalk has four railroad stations, all served by Metro North with access to New York City, Danbury and New Haven. The stations are called Rowayton, South Norwalk, East Norwalk and Merritt 7. The South Norwalk station is in the vibrant SoNo section of the city.
Virgin Atlantic Airways has its United States headquarters in Norwalk, as does priceline.com, Sobe, Pepperidge Farm, and Northrop Grumman Norden Systems (formerly Norden Systems). The flagship store of the regional dairy/produce superstore chain Stew Leonard's, is located in the city. The Maritime Aquarium is a major aquarium that specializes in displaying the marine life and ecology of Long Island Sound.
The farming of oysters has long been an important to Norwalk. Norwalk is Connecticut's largest oyster producer and home to the nation's largest oyster company, Tallmadge Brothers. Each September, Norwalk holds its annual Oyster Festival. The festival is similar to many state fairs.
History
Purchase
Norwalk was purchased in 1640 by Roger Ludlow for the account of “eight fathoms of wampum, tenn hatchets, tenn hoes, tenn knifes, tenn scissors, tenn jewse-harps, tenn fathom tabackoe, three kettles of sixe hands about, and tenn looking glasses” from Chief Mahackmo of the Norwalk Indians (actually the residents of Norwauke village of the Siwanoy subdivision or “sanchemship” of the Algonquin language family). The original purchase included all land between the Norwalk and Saugatuck rivers and a day’s walk north from the sea. Norwalk was incorporated on September 11, 1651, when the General Court of the Connecticut Colony decreed that “Norwaukee shall bee a townee”.
Yankee Doodle
During the French and Indian War, a regiment of Norwalkers was assembled to report as an attachment to British regulars. The group was commanded by Col. Thomas Fitch of Norwalk (son of Connecticut governor Thomas Fitch). Assembling at Fitch’s yard in Norwalk, Fitch’s younger sister Elizabeth, along with other young local women who had come to bid them farewell, were distraught at the men’s lack of uniforms and so they improvised plumes from chicken feathers which they gave to the men for their hats.
As they arrived at Fort Crailo, NY, the prim and proper British regulars began to mock and ridicule the rag-tag Connecticut troops who only had chicken feathers for uniform. Dr. Richard Shuckburgh, a British army surgeon, added new words to a popular tune of the time, Lucy Locket (e.g., “stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni”, macaroni being the London slang at the time for a foppish dandy) and the rest is history.
Revolutionary War
In 1776, American spy Nathan Hale set out from Norwalk by ship on his ill-fated intelligence-gathering mission.
In 1779 British forces sought to disrupt American naval activity in Long Island Sound. General William Tryon is ordered to cripple the seaports of New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk. New Haven was raided on July 5th, Fairfield was raided on the 7th and in retribution for resistance by the townspeople, completely burned. Residents of Norwalk, certain of what lay ahead, began to make provisions for the defense of their town, mostly by hudling up in the upper hills of the city known as “The Rocks.”
2,600 British troops led by General Tryon arrived at Calf Pasture Beach at approximately 5:00 PM on July 10, 1779, where they spent the night. At dawn, Gen. Tryon marched his troops up what is now East Avenue while Tryon’s second-in-command Brigadier-general George Garth and his men were ferried across the harbor to what is now approximately the IMAX Theater of the Maritime Aquarium. Tryon did not see resistance until he reached Grumman’s Hill, where he met about fifty Americans commanded by Captain Stephen Betts. Far outnumbered, the Americans were soon forced into retreat.
To signal Tryon that they had arrived, the British set ablaze the building that stood at the present-day intersection of Washington and Water Streets (where Donovan’s restaurant presently stands). Then, the British under Garth began a slow drive down Washington Street, with house to house fighting, burning as they went. A second significant skirmish took place around Flax Hill, with the British being shot at from all sides. However, the British troops had been able to drag along a cannon and were able to fire down on the locals. Eventually, the British prevailed, and began a march down West Avenue and Wall Streets, again burning as they went.
General Tryon, in the meanwhile, was sitting in a rocking chair on Grumman’s Hill, watching Norwalk burn from across the river. Tryon and Garth then rejoined at the area of the Norwalk Green, and then proceeded to clear out the locals taking refuge in “The Rocks". Here, the British dispersed of the local militia (and captured an American cannon) and drove the towns people from the hills. On the march back to the ships, Tryon’s troops almost completely destroyed Norwalk; only six houses were spared. Tryon described the burning in his official dispatch to Henry Clinton:
- “After many salt-pans were destroyed, whale-boats carried on board the fleet, and the magazines, stores, and vessels set in flames, with the greater part of the dwelling-houses, the advanced corps were drawn back, and the troops retired in two columns to the place of our first debarkation, and, unassaulted, took ship, and returned to Huntington Bay."
After the revolutionary war, many residents were compensated for their losses with free land grants in the Connecticut Western Reserve in what is now Ohio; this later became Norwalk, Ohio.
Post-Revolutionary War
The first major U.S. railroad disaster occurred in Norwalk in 1853. An engineer carelessly neglected to check the open drawbridge signal as his one hundred and fifty passenger train approached the Norwalk River. He only realized the bridge was up within about four hundred feet of the gap, which proved to be insufficient to stop the train. The engineer and the fireman jumped from the train and then the locomotive, two baggage cars (the latter also a car for smokers) and two and a half passenger cars (the third car split when the train finally came to a stop) went plunging off the tracks into the river. Forty-six people drowned or were crushed to death, and an approximately thirty people were more or less severely injured.
Oyster farming in Norwalk peaked from the late 1800s to the early part of the 20th century. By 1880, Norwalk had the largest fleet of steam-powered oyster boats in the world, its fishermen having made the change from sails only a few years before. Although eventually overfishing pushed Norwalk's industry into a decline, a renaissance has been occurring since the later part of the last century, although oyster diseases Dermo and MSX remain a problem for the industry.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 94.1 km² (36.3 mi²). 59.1 km² (22.8 mi²) of it is land and 35.0 km² (13.5 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 37.24% water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 82,951 people, 32,711 households, and 20,967 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,404.1/km² (3,637.3/mi²). There were 33,753 housing units at an average density of 571.3/km² (1,480.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.95% White, 15.27% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 3.25% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.33% from other races, and 2.95% from two or more races. 15.63% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 32,711 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.9% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 35.5% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $59,839, and the median income for a family was $68,219. Males had a median income of $46,988 versus $38,312 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,781. 7.2% of the population and 5.0% of families were below the poverty line. 9.6% of those under the age of 18 and 6.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Recent population trends
High school education
- Norwalk High School is the home of the Norwalk Bears. The school was founded in 1902.
- Brien McMahon High School, named for Senator Brien McMahon, first chairman of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, was founded in 1960.
- Briggs High School.
Landmarks
- Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk
- Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum (Website) 62-room mansion considered one of the oldest and finest surviving Second Empire style country houses ever built in the United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971. Recently, it was used for interior shots in the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives.
Transportation
The ex-New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad electrified four track mainline runs through South and East Norwalk. The line is the primary passenger rail connection between New York City, NY and Boston, Massachusetts. The Danbury brachline to Danbury begins in South Norwalk next to former New Haven Signal Station 44. The bridge over the Norwalk River is the only four track swing bridge in the nation. Norwalk is served directly by MTA Metro-North Railroad, a join venture between the state of New York and Connecticut. Amtrak, the national passenger railroad, has trackage rights over the line to New Haven. CSX Transportation and the Providence & Worcester also have trackage rights over Metro-North. During the week, over 200 trains a day pass through Norwalk.
Interstate 95 crosses through Norwalk, and there are several exits within the Norwalk city limits. The Merritt Parkway also crosses through Norwalk. Both of these roads are designated to be north/south routes, but through Norwalk, both of them primarily travel east/west. The major north-south artery is Route 7, which begins at Interstate 95. There is an exit to the Merritt Parkway, but only southbound towards New York City, as environmental activists have successfully blocked a full interchange between the two arteries. In northern Norwalk, Route 7 changes from a limited access, divided highway to an ordinary surface road. Originally, the intent was to build the "Super 7" highway (in a different place than the current Route 7), which would link Interstate 95 with Interstate 84 in Danbury, but environmental groups and slow-growth advocates succeeded in preventing this highway from being built (although the state of Connecticut continues to own the land to build the highway).
Famous Residents
External links
- Norwalk CT - Official website for the City of Norwalk
- Facts about Norwalk
- Norwalk Seaport Association, Sponsors of the annual Oyster festival (a 3-day carnival usually held the 2nd weekend of September) and other local heritage events
- Norwalk Transit District routes, maps, guides, timetables.
